These are some new robot-printed houses being talked about all around the internet. They’re called Passivdom houses, designed by Maria Sorokina, and yes, you might have guessed. They’re 3d printed.

These particular tiny houses are 410 square feet units, and while the structure – walls, roof, floor – are printed by a 3dp machine, people still have to go in and add plumbing, electricity, and all the other things a house needs beyond the structure.

However, these are designed as basically off-grid tiny homes: they don’t need to connect to the grid for electricity because they’re meant to have solar panels and batteries. They’re also portable.

A water collection/filtration system is used that gathers moisture from humidity (or, if there is no humidity, you can pour water into it).

Guess how many preorders for these things just in the last year since they started up? Around 8000. And the first products are scheduled to be delivered (they’re easily transportable) in January. While they start at around 64k, they go up to around 97k.

Well, there are a lot of types of beds out there, and buying a bed is a decision for everybody, but how many people would go this far to get an ultimate comfort bed?

It has cushion all around it – there’s basically a recliner built into one side. And it also has a little computer table, night lamp, and speakers, plus bookshelves here and there, and a hutch of sorts at the foot of the bed. Did they miss anything?

Specifications:

The number of applicable 2 people
Dimensions 1500mm*2000mm1800mm*2000mm

I’m not sure if this bed is actually going to be available, but it’s pretty crazy. There have been listings in China and Russia, but if someone shares a link for a seller that has some in stock, we’ll add that to the post.

Look at the interior of this thing! Actually, it looks so spacious its hard to believe its a tiny home. We received this from Tim Davidson himself, who is a member of our Cools Stuff page, and here we are sharing it with you guys!

Meet Tiffany! She was recently purchased by Tim & Sam from Adam at A New Beginning Tiny Homes!

Tiffany is a custom Tiny home that is 270 square feet and is designed after a 1920’s bungalow style home. Tiffany is 25 feet long and 13’6’’ tall making, her legal to tow and place wherever they would like. Her light blue from the exterior is splashed on the inside of her craftsman style layout.

Tiffany is NOAH certified which means that she has been inspected at five critical building processes and meets international builder codes throughout her build time. She is equipped with a 10.3 cubic square foot fridge and a 20’’ propane stove, and a large white farmer style sink. The lighting is all LED product that help accent the colorful stained glass wall sconces to match the custom stained glass windows throughout the home; the lighting also helps save on energy costs.

As for the living room, the custom bench has two matching foot stools that make it easy to cuddle up for a good Netflix binge. Those same foot stools are the seats for the folding leaf kitchen table that is the same butcher block used throughout Tiffany. Laundry is a simple task with the single-unit combination washer/dryer. The bathroom’s hidden pocket-door features stained glass to match the rest of Tiffany’s accents. In the bathroom, you will find a custom removeable bathtub and rain-fall style shower head, wrapped in tumbled subway marble tile, and a compost toilet.

There are two sleeping areas in Tiffany. The first is a twin sized lofted bed above the kitchen that can also be used as storage. The second is the master loft, which holds a queen-sized bed in front of a custom headboard that has built-in cabinets for extra storage, and usb plugs for charging smart phones. Tiffany is smart as well! She has a Lutron Caseta system incorporated throughout the home. This gives Tim and Sam the ability to control Amazon Alexa, dim the lighting or put it on a timer, adjust the AC, access to the Nest smoke detector, as well as the Nest cameras. This can all be done from their phones,e anywhere in the world with internet connection.

Sam and Tim and just moved into Tiffany and left their cluttered homes behind, sold a large portion of their possessions and are going Tiny. They will be documenting the entire process of living tiny with a minimalistic mindset at their newly launched website. You can also follow them on their Facebook. or their Instagram.

So we’ve featured a few metal building homes, but recently one of them popped up on our radar when it was shared and then commented on by Jared Groce, who’s the agent selling this house. Yes, it came up for sale, and there are new photos of it.

It’s sitting on 12 acres out in Texas, according to Groce and Messy Oak Properties. And funny enough, they refer to all the sites including ours that have talked about the property:

“This is truly a one of a kind property, that is well known on the internet. In fact, do a search for the term “Metal building full home with epic pool and a stable” and see for yourself just how popular this property is!”

And here’s a bit more from the seller:

“Have you ever wanted a home that was so unique and so spectacular that it was featured on ads, commercials, and TV shows? Here is your chance! This metal home with attached barn, work shop and garage is so low maintenance, and so well insulated, that you will be able to spend your time enjoying your property instead of maintaining it.

“This 3 bedroom 3 bath custom metal home, sometimes referred to as a barndomenium, sits on 12 acres with a custom pool and a second home, near Tom Bean in Grayson County, TX.

“The home is featured by Mueller Metal on their ads and commercials, and Bob Phillips with Texas Country Reporter have filmed here. It is registered with the Texas Film Commission as a remote film location.”

There’s more information on their website for those interested in buying this house (the asking price is $699,000), or you can call listing agent Jared Groce at (940) 390-0081 for a showing or for further information.

Earthship Biotecture Tennessee is launching a Kickstarter, and they sent us this update on what they’re up to! so we’re sharing it with you guys …

Earthships use discarded materials like used tires and plastic bottles, solar/wind electricity, rainwater catchment and filtration, passive solar/thermal mass design, and contained natural sewage treatment to achieve a home that is entirely independent and free from monthly bills.
Earthships address every aspect of comfort and sustainability in one ingenious design that reflects over 40 years of work by architect Michael Reynolds and his crew.

After attending the Earthship Academy in Taos, NM, Marcus Sisk has been working on a Simple Survival Model Earthship in Gallatin, TN, about 40 minutes outside of Nashville. It is the first of its kind in Middle Tennessee.

Once complete, it will serve as a destination for architects, engineers, state officials, and the general public to observe and learn valuable concepts & techniques.

With rapid development happening in the Nashville area, we need to incorporate ways of providing new housing that are affordable and environmentally sustainable. In our changing climate, acting fast is crucial. We cannot wait for government or corporations to address these issues.

After years of personally investing in Earthship TN’s financing and labor, Marcus Sisk is launching a Kickstarter campaign to finish the project. The $15,000 goal will provide for materials and labor, and prizes include an overnight stay for two, education workshops, consultations and more!

For more info, visit the Kickstarter campaign, Biotecture of TN website, Facebook or Instagram @supreme.green. To learn more about Earthship Biotecture’s Headquarters in Taos, NM, visit Earthship’s website.

Earthships can be built for anywhere from $15,000 to $1,500,000 or more and can range from 100sq ft to 10,000sq ft or more! They provide all of the amenities of a modern home but with out the monthly expenses of conventional utilities.

These days homes are made from of wide variety of materials, constructed in many unique and creative ways, and people are living both on and off the grid. From the tiny house, to metal framed homes, there is so much to choose from it could make your head spin when it’s time to make a decision on what’s best for you and your family. We are indeed spoiled for choice. Many people still prefer that traditional, but more and more are taking advantage of the untried. Barn homes offer just the customized and rustic feel than that so many folks are looking for, and they also get the satisfaction of recycling an old building and creating something very special.

High and beamed ceilings are the hallmark of the barn home, and wood is the most used material in the interior. For those who enjoy a bit of country and rustic elements, the barn home is the most ideal structure they could choose. Most barn homes have open floor plans , with one “room” area of the home flowing beautifully into the next. This feeling of open flow is often unique to the barn home. The barn home usually has more than one story, and a feeling of spaciousness is a very happy consequence. It is a perfect place for a growing family, with plenty of space for entertaining if you enjoy guests coming over. The gallery below offers images of both exterior and interior barns homes. These images are from a variety of sources and the research material here is courtesy of Pinterest. The gallery is intended to help percolate your creativity and to give you ideas of how a barn home might be a good fit for you.

Images are courtesy of (reading from left to right in each row) :Sand Creek Post and Barn; Houzz; Hobby; Sand Creek Post and Barn; Pinterest; idenbarnhomes.com; Pinterest; Pinterest; homedesignee.us; vagabomber; Pinterest; Pinterest.

Here’s a DIY tiny house unlike any you might have seen before. These fellows did it with just a bit of lumber and that piece of corrugated metal. Interested in trying something like this yourself?

They’re a couple of Californians, named Matt & Margo, and they built this one over a dry creek bed (usually dry, anyway).

It’s their summer cottage, and it’s located, for those interested, in the western foothills of Sierra Nevada Range, California.

They also mentioned that a tiny house like this, set up as a summer house in an out-of-the-way location in an area with a significant amount of fires, like those California mountains, is one that isn’t relatively that big an investment, and if it ever were to burn up in a wildfire, they could just rebuild it.

Nice little deck, and you probably noticed that sheet of corrugated metal is quite small, and they made do by using it like a single-pitch roof, with a bit of a slant to the rest of the building.

And here’s a little gallery of some more little cabins — some even use corrugated metal sheets, but none do it like this cabin at the top, which is pretty interesting. Unfortunately, the picture at the top is the only one that seems to be around for Matt & Margo’s cabin so far (if anyone finds more, make sure to send them to us so we can update this), as well as if anyone has built similar structures. Of course, the top image also expands, as all the pictures on our site do.

Prefabrication homes, or prefabs, have been an alternative style of living to building a home made with conventional construction, for years. They are by far cheaper to create and assemble than the usual home. They come in many different styles and can be customized to suit the buyers.

Prefabs are constructed in factories off the home site and then panels are assembled like puzzle pieces on-site. Less labor is necessary to put these houses together, and some prefabs can be built in as little as three days. And you can be expected to pay between $180-$220 per square foot. Prefabs are more energy efficient and can be put up just about anywhere.

Designers of prefabs having been pushing the boundaries of prefab construction.

You can live with all the convenience and comfort of conventional construction in large or small prefabs.

The versatility of prefab houses makes them very desirable. Most of them can be moved to a location of your choice after first settling in to one place.

Prefabs are sustainable, energy friendly, produce less waste, cost less, and can be assembled anywhere you wish in days. They are a wonderful way to have the home of your dreams more easily and efficiently. Just do your research and know the right questions to ask. Images: Inhabitat, Methodhomes, and Modular Homeowners. You can find them in our directory of prefab home builders.

Modular homes and prefabricated homes are essentially the same thing, but most people use the term “modular” to refer the the larger homes and prefabs to the smaller ones. Modular homes are constructed off-site in weather-protected factories and then transported to the home site. As a rule, modular homes are stronger than their on-site counterparts and are constructed in sections called “modules”.

After a home is put up in its location, more modules can be added to it, more levels, and more rooms. Modular homes are built to accommodate local building codes and are a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, less waste alternative to homes built on site.

The cost of a modular home will vary from site to site and contractor to contractor. If the style you choose is one offered by the company and not custom built, you can expect to pay considerably less than if you customize your home. But in general the cost per square foot can be anything from $50 to $150. But always know that the final cost will most likely be higher than what is quoted to you.

Cost will also depend on what location you choose for your modular home. A clear open space will obviously be cheaper than a wooded area or building on the beach. But know that modular homes are extremely versatile and can be built in almost any location.

Modular homes are built from the same materials as site-built homes. Wood frames can be used, you can have brick or stone exteriors, and granite can be used for countertops. But the beauty of a modular home is that from construction of the modules off site, to the putting together of them, modular homes can be completed in a matter of weeks, or even days, depending on the size and onsite location.

What people often forget, because they are as finely built as site built homes, is that modular homes can be taken apart, moved to a new or more desirable location, and put back together with almost no waste. The parts are completely reusable.

To sum up, you can design your dream home with modulars much more cheaply than with conventional construction. You can move the modules around, add levels, and increase the square footage for a much more cost-effective price. Modular homes are built with less waste material than site built homes, and are more environmentally friendly. They can be put almost anywhere you desire, increasing the value of your property. And the waiting time for the finished product can be only weeks or days. So move -in time comes so much more quickly. You can be living in your modular home in less than a month. The popularity and versatility of modulars increases every year, so the value of your home may even go up.

Images: Select Homes Inc., homeesthetics.net, and About Pure Country Homes.

Many people are finally letting go of what we sometimes call “The American Dream”: A marriage, two and a half kids, a dog, a good paying job, and a nice big house. And the accumulation of “stuff” has been at the forefront of this myth. For these folks a more minimal, manageable life holds a big attraction. Enter the tiny house.

Once the province of the retired, like RV living, more and more Americans are opting for the tiny life. Many of these tiny houses are built to be mobile so that its inhabitants can visit places of interest, and live on the road. For those of you who work and can do so remotely, but still wish to downsize your living space, the tiny house is an ideal option.

Lots of people take it on themselves to get their hands dirty and build their own tiny houses. An Alliance of professional builders promoted the use of ethical building practices and guidelines and this was carried on by the American Tiny House Association, which deals with issues of zoning and coding.

Tiny houses can be as small as 120 square feet and as large as 500 square feet, and still be considered a tiny house.

Benefits of Tiny House Living

You can divest yourself of unused and useless “stuff”. There are so many things humans can really do without – you’d be amazed at how much clutter we can get rid of and still be happy.

The cost of living in a tiny house is much more reasonable than living in a large house. Utilities are all less, and you spend much less time cleaning and maintaining your tiny house. And buying or building your own tiny house costs but a fraction of what living large does. You no longer need to live paycheck to paycheck with an exorbitant mortgage.

Tiny living forces you to be organized with the things you choose to keep in your tiny house, and therefore is more efficient.

For those who wish to “live green” the tiny house is just the ticket. You can use water collection tanks, wind turbines, and solar energy to power your tiny house and in the long run save thousands of dollars in electrical bills.

Self-sufficiency is another big reason that people opt for the tiny house. Especially if your tiny house is mobile, you can pick up and go whenever you please.

Many cities across the country are providing zoning regulations for tiny house communities, and you can actually live tiiny in a real neighborhood.

The above photograph is a wonderful example of how you can compact your life and still have all the comforts of home.

Living the tiny house lifestyle isn’t for everyone, but if you are ready for letting go of the “I need my stuff” syndrome, it may be just the thing for you.